Storage and Migration of Fallout Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 for Over 40 Years in the Surface Soil of Nagasaki

Abstract

Abstract

The vertical migration of 90Sr and 117Cs produced by the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945 was investigated in an unsaturated soil layer in the Nishiyama area of Nagasaki. The in situ migration rates of 90Sr and 137Cs were estimated to be 4.2 mm yr−1 and 1.0 mm yr−1, respectively, when the rate of movement of soil water was 2500 mm yr−1. The in situ Kd values of 90Sr and 137Cs were calculated to be 0.3 m3 kg−1 and 1.2 m3 kg−1, respectively. These are probably the only results that exist for the interaction between soil and 137Cs and 90Sr over 40 yr. These results suggest that since fallout 137Cs and 90Sr have remained in the surface soil for a long period of time, we should pay significant attention to radiological effects of nuclear accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster.

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